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HON. OEOROE H. UTTER 



GEORGE HERBERT UTTER 

( Late a Representative from Rhode Island ) 

MEMORIAL ADDRESSES 

DELIVERED IN THE 

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES AND THE SENATE 

OF THE UNITED STATES 

SIXTY-SECOND CONGRESS 
THIRD SESSION 



Proceedings in the House Proceedings in the Senate 

February 9, 1913 February 22, 1913 



PREPARED UNDER THE DIRECTION OF 
THE JOINT COMMITTEE ON PRINTING 




WASHINGTON 
1914 



TABLE >F : intents 



::.- : 




' 



DEATH OF HON. GEORGE HERBERT UTTER 



Proceedings in the House 

Monday, December 2, 1912. 
Mr. O'Shaunessy. Mr. Speaker, I offer the followiog 
resolutions and ask for their immediate consideration. 
The Clerk read as follows: 

House resolution 714 

Resolved, That the House has heard with profound sorrow of 
the death of Hon. George Herbert Utter, late a Member of the 
House from the State of Rhode Island. 

Resolved, That the Clerk of the House be directed to transmit a 
copy of these resolutions to the Senate and send a copy thereof 
to the family of the deceased. 

The resolutions were agreed to. 

Mr. Cannon. Mr. Speaker, I move you, sir, that out of 
regard for the memory of the late Vice President, James 
Schoolcraft Sherman, and the memory of the Members 
of this House and of the Senate who have departed this 
life since the adjournment of the last session of Congress, 
this House do now adjourn. 

The motion was agreed to; and accordingly (at 1 o'clock 
and 8 minutes p. m.) the House adjourned until to-mor- 
row, Tuesday, December 3, 1912, at 12 o'clock noon. 



[5] 



Memorial Addresses: Representative Utter 

Friday, December 6, 1912. 
A message from the Senate, by Mr. Crockett, one of its 
clerks, announced that the Senate had passed the follow- 
ing resolutions: 

Resolved, That the Senate has heard with profound sorrow the 
announcement of the death of Hon. George H. Utter, late a Rep- 
resentative from the State of Rhode Island. 

Resolved. That the Secretary communicate a copy of these 
resolutions to the House of Representatives and to the family of 
the deceased. 

Resolved. That, as a further mark of respect to the memory' of 
those Representatives whose deaths have been announced, the 
Senate do now adjourn. 

Saturday, January 18, 1913. 

Mr. O'Shaunessy. Mr. Speaker. I ask unanimous con- 
sent for the consideration of the order which I send to 
the Clerk's desk. 

The Speaker. The Clerk will report the order. 

The Clerk read as follows: 

Mr. O'Shaunessy introduced the following order: 
" Ordered. That Sunday, the 9th day of February, 1913, be set 
apart for addresses on the life, character, and public services of 
Hon. George H. Utter, late a Representative from the State of 
Rhode Island." 

The Speaker. Is there objection to the present consid- 
eration of this order? "After a pause." The Chair hears 
none. The question is on agreeing to the order. 

The order was agreed to. 

Sunday, February 9. 1913. 
The House met at 12 o'clock noon, and was called to 
order by the Speaker pro tempore "Mr. Pepper]. 



[«] 



Proceedings in the House 



The Chaplain, Rev. Henry N. Couden, D. D., offered the 
following prayer: 

Eternal God, our heavenly Father, in whose all-encir- 
cling love we dwell, through whose never-failing minis- 
trations our existence is continued moment by moment, 
hour by hour, guide us, we beseech Thee, by the Holy 
Spirit of Truth to do Thy will, that we may build each 
for himself a character which shall be an everlasting 
memorial to Thee. We are here in memory of three 
great men, whose lives have become a part of the Nation's 
history. We can not add to or detract from their glory, 
but we may exalt ourselves by recording faithfully their 
service to State and Nation. Comfort we pray Thee, 
their friends, colleagues, and those near and dear to them 
bv the bonds of kinship with the blessed hope of the im- 
mortality of the souL 

N t enjoyment, and not sorrow, 

Is our destined end or way: 
Bat to act that each to-morrow 

Find us farther than to-day. 

Inspire us with courage, zeal, and fidelity, that we may 
be worthv and pass on to the reward of those who, true 
to themselves, reflect in thought, word, and deed the char- 
acter of Him who taught us to pray: Our Father which 
art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom 
come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven- ( 
us this day our daily bread And forgive us our debts, 
as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into tempta- 
tion, but deliver us from eviL For thine is the kingdom, 
and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen. 

The Speakeb pro tempore. The Clerk will read the 
JournaL 



m 



Memorial Addresses: Representative Utter 

Mr. Kendall. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent 
that the reading of the Journal may be dispensed with. 

The Speaker pro tempore. Is there objection? [After 
a pause.] The Chair hears none. Without objection, the 
Journal will be approved. 

There was no objection. 

The Speaker pro tempore. The Clerk will report the 
next order. 

The Clerk read as follows: 

On motion of Mr. O'Shaunessy, by unanimous consent, 
Ordered, That Sunday, February 9, 1913, be set apart for ad- 
dresses upon the life, character, and public services of Hon. 
George H. Utter, late a Representative from the State of Rhode 
Island. 

Mr. O'Shaunessy. Mr. Speaker, I present the following 
resolution, which I send to the Clerk's desk. 

The Speaker pro tempore. The Clerk will report the 
resolution. 

The Clerk read as follows: 

House resolution 824 

Resolved, That, in pursuance of the special order heretofore 
adopted, the House proceed to pay tribute to the memory of the 
Hon. George Herbert Utter, late a Representative in Congress 
from the State of Rhode Island. 

Resolved, That as a further mark of respect to the memory of 
the deceased, and in recognition of his distinguished career and 
his great service to his country as a Representative in Congress, 
the House, at the conclusion of the memorial proceedings of this 
day, shall stand adjourned. 

Resolved, That the Clerk of the House communicate these reso- 
lutions to the Senate. 

Resolved, That the Clerk of the House be, and he is hereby, in- 
structed to send a copy of these resolutions to the family of the 
deceased. 

The resolution was unanimously agreed to. 

[8] 



MEMORIAL ADDRESSES 



Address of Mr. O'Shaunessy, of Rhode Island 

Mr. Speaker: Death, the great reaper whose sickle 
never dulls and whose arm never falters, has reaped a 
rich harvest in the Sixty-second Congress. My colleague 
and friend, George Herbert Utter, was the eighteenth in 
its necrological roll. More have been added since his soul 
winged its way to that immortal home where all of earth's 
grandeur pales into insignificance in comparison with the 
riches our Heavenly Father has stored up for his faithful 
children. 

Coming to Westerly, R. I., in 1861, from Plainfield, N. J., 
where he was born July 24, 1854, he resided in that com- 
munity continuously until his death, which took place on 
Sunday, November 3, 1912, two days prior to the general 
election. He had given freely of his splendid oratorical 
powers to the Republican national committee during the 
campaign and had stumped for his party in his usual 
effective fashion in the New England States, and, no 
doubt, by his unremitting endeavors hastened the end 
which was to be the climax of the malignant disease 
which gripped him. He was equipped for the masterful 
role he was to play in the business and political world at 
Alfred (N. Y.) Academy, in Westerly High School, and 
at Amherst College, from which he graduated in 1877. 
For years and until his death he was the publisher of the 
Westerly Sun, which steadily reflected the views of its 
owner, who was always ready with moral admonitions 
as applied to current events. 



[9] 



Memorial Addresses: Representative Utter 

Congressman Utter was a man of simple tastes and 
hardy virtues; in debate he manifested the spirit born 
of true conviction, and in council gave abundant evidence 
of that indefinable something which generates and in- 
spires confidence. He was a man of deep religious feel- 
ing, and his unfaltering devotion to the sect of which he 
was so conspicuous a member, the Seventh-day Baptists, 
found him ready for the summons which must come to 
all. No doubt perplexed him when, surrounded by his 
loving family at his home in Westerly, he passed away, 
comforted by the presence of devoted hearts and sus- 
tained by a State-wide approving sentiment of his private 
and public life. He was prepared for the fulfillment of 
the Saviour's words, " I am the Resurrection and the 
Life." The sect to which he gave such rigorous devotion 
is small in numbers and makes Saturday its Sabbath 
Day. The sturdy observance of this habit alone marked 
him as an unusual man, as one who differed with mil- 
lions, but differed conscientiously, manifesting at the 
same time a broad religious tolerance. 

But there are deeds that should not pass away, 
And names that must not wither. 

His deeds, so characteristic of the man, shall not pass 
away, and his name shall be remembered wherever meri- 
torious action and endeavor have left an impress upon 
the memory of man. It is related of him that, when 
governor of Rhode Island, he declined to attend a cele- 
bration in the city of Washington and delegated the lieu- 
tenant governor to take his place, because the exercises 
were to be held on Saturday. And in the performance of 
his duties in this great Chamber only the most pressing 
necessity, the consideration of some very vital question, 
would cause his presence here on the day that he had 



[10] 



Address of Mr. O'Shaunessy, of Rhode Island 

dedicated as his Sabbath. He had the courage of his con- 
victions, content with the approbation of his conscience. 
In political life he loved the truth, and dared speak it, 
even though in some cases it spelled defeat for some cher- 
ished ambition. 

He had a distinguished and honorable public career. 
He was elected four times a member of the Rhode Island 
House of Representatives, and during one of those terms 
was speaker of the house. He was twice chosen as sena- 
tor from his home town, and thereafter he filled, to the 
satisfaction of the public, the exalted posts of secretary 
of state, lieutenant governor, and governor of Rhode 
Island. And withal he remained the same genial, unas- 
suming, charitably disposed Christian gentleman, mag- 
nanimous in his consideration of others, and never fail- 
ing to find deep down in the other man's heart something 
to admire and approve. His oratorical ability, coupled 
with his unfailing, invaluable advice and meaty sugges- 
tion for high moral endeavor, made him a favorite at 
public gatherings, and I am sure that his cheering words 
will long be remembered by the many Bible classes, 
Young Men's Christian Associations, and commercial bod- 
ies that had the pleasure and satisfaction of hearing him. 
His was a conservative nature that held to old traditions 
and found little comfort in the new political dispensation. 
He had a reverent regard for American institutions, and 
a profound trust that, unchanged, they could and would 
work out a nation's destiny. With his tenacity of belief 
there was always coupled a bourgeoning hope that every 
political problem would be solved for the good of all the 
people, but his caution dispelled rash methods, and his 
nature quailed instinctively at quick transitions in the 
methods of government. 



[11] 



Memorial Addresses: Representative Utter 

He brought an optimism to his work; his buoyant spirit 
was nowhere better shown than in his favorite poem: 

HOW DID YOU DIE? 

Did you tackle that trouble that came your way, 

With a resolute heart and cheerful? 
Or hide your face from the light of day 

With a craven soul and fearful? 
Oh, a trouble's a ton, or a trouble's an ounce, 

Or a trouble is what you make it, 
And it isn't the fact that you're hurt that counts, 

But only how did you take it? 

You are beaten to earth? Well, well, what's that? 

Come up with a smiling face, 
It's nothing against you to fall down flat, 

But to lie there — that's disgrace. 
. The harder you're thrown, why the higher you bounce; 

Be proud of your blackened eye. 
It isn't the fact that you're licked that counts, 

It's how did you fight — and why? 

And though you be done to the death, what then? 

If you battled the best you could, 
If you played your part in the world of men, 

Why, the critic will call you good. 
Death comes with a crawl or comes with a pounce, 

And whether he's slow or spry, 
It isn't the fact that you're dead that counts, 

But only how did you die? 

And here in this House, where his services were char- 
acterized by an unfailing sense of modesty and untiring 
zeal, we honor his memory. I can hardly reconcile my- 
self to the knowledge that my cheerful and helpful col- 
league has passed away. How often he spoke to me in 
this Chamber in his kindly and fatherly way, little think- 
ing that his useful, well-spent, highly moral life was so 
soon to end. He has gone, but he will live in the affection 



[12] 



Address of Mr. O'Shaunessy, of Rhode Island 

of a grieved domestic circle, in the respect of the State 
he loved and honored, in the memory of his services, and 
in the loving testimony of those whose good fortune it 
was to meet him here, to associate with him, and to work 
with him. 



[13] 



Address of Mr. Greene, of Massachusetts 

Mr. Speaker: The Sixty-second Congress has been de- 
pleted by the hand of death to a greater extent than it 
has been my experience to witness since I have been a 
Member of the House of Representatives. Many of these 
deaths have been sudden and unexpected, and I am sure 
none more so than that of the late Member from the 
second district of Rhode Island, Hon. George H. Utter. 

His activities seemed to be at their height of usefulness 
when the second session of this Congress was concluded, 
and I am sure no one imagined when the parting good- 
bys were exchanged and we departed to our respective 
homes that we had parted forever in this life from our 
late associate. His program for active campaigning in 
the presidential contest in behalf of the party to which 
he owed allegiance, and by whose membership he had 
often been honored, seemed to promise fulfillment of the 
work which he enjoyed and his return to the scene of his 
activities and friendships here. But while man proposes 
and plans for the future there is an unerring destiny 
which overrules our purposes and shapes our ends. 

Mr. Utter was a resident of Westerly, R. I., from early 
boyhood, and was active in promoting the interests and 
shaping the public improvements of the town of his 
adoption. His natural ability was improved by educa- 
tion in the public schools and by academic and college 
training. He was a newspaper publisher, and as such 
and as a public-spirited citizen he had a marked in- 
fluence among his fellow townsmen. He was an honored 
member of the Rhode Island House of Representatives for 
several terms and speaker of that body. He was also a 



[14] 



Address of Mr. Greene, of Massachusetts 

member of the Rhode Island Senate, secretary of state, 
lieutenant governor, and governor of that State. Upon 
the death of the late Congressman Capron he was elected 
a Member of this body. 

Mr. Utter was a ready debater and an eloquent advo- 
cate of the policy of protection to American industries 
and American labor, under which the State of Rhode 
Island had marvelously grown and prospered until it 
became one of the most complete and varied industrial 
centers of growth and activity in New England. But not 
alone to political lines were his activities limited. He 
was frequently called upon to speak in different parts of 
the country in behalf of the extension of the work of the 
Young Men's Christian Association and also in address- 
ing religious and other public assemblages. He was an 
eloquent and forceful speaker, and was always sure to 
have an appreciative audience whenever the announce- 
ment was made that he was to deliver an address. He 
was suddenly stricken with disease while actively en- 
gaged in the campaign for the Republican Party, and was 
compelled to submit to an operation, from which he did 
not recover. 

I was assigned to membership on the committee which 
attended his funeral services at his home in Westerly, 
R. I. There was a large attendance at the exercises of 
many persons prominent in public life from all over the 
State, and also his associates in Congress from Rhode 
Island, Connecticut, and Massachusetts. The places of 
business in Westerly were closed, and general evidence 
of respect to his memory were displayed by the citizens 
of the community, and thus the last tribute of respect 
and affection was paid to his memory on the day follow- 
ing the national election of 1912. The town, the State, 
and the Nation have been deprived of the services of a 



11323°— 14 2 [15] 



Memorial Addresses: Representative Utter 

useful and worthy citizen and able legislator, but his 
words and his accomplishments will be recorded in the 
pages of history, and his example and worth may well 
be an inspiration to the generations who may contem- 
plate his career in public and private life. 



[16] 



Address of Mr. Plumley, of Vermont 

Mr. Speaker: I enter these precincts to-day with lag- 
gard and hesitant steps. A funeral pall is over this 
Chamber, and shadowy forms, the ethereal essence of 
those whom we commemorate, walk by my side. A 
solemn hush is here where yesterday there was strenu- 
ous strife, and we who were partisans then are now 
one in that union of soul which awaits on common 
sorrow. 

It was a brief acquaintance I had with the late Hon. 
George Herbert Utter, a little less than a year, but dur- 
ing that period it became close and intimate. During 
the political campaign of 1912 he spoke in Vermont, at 
my request, and in my own town, where he charmed all 
with his wit, his wisdom, his method, manner, and matter. 

When we dwell upon his career we deal with a char- 
acter which was excellent, rich, and rare; with a life 
that was clean, exalted, and noble; with garnered results 
which are worthy of study and emulation. There beat 
in his breast a heart large, warm, and true. He possessed 
a personality which attracted friends and held them. He 
loved and was beloved. He had faith in others and was 
himself trusted implicitly. For the greater part of his 
adult life he was a public servant, living in the limelight 
of official service, yet beyond reproach and without scan- 
dal. He was honest because it was right to be honest; 
he served to the best of his ability those who trusted 
him, because such service was their due. He lived a 
high-minded, whole-souled Christian gentleman and 
patriot, and at his death there is bereavement and lamen- 
tation. 



[17] 



Memorial Addresses: Representative Utter 

In his life and in his death he verified the words of 
Scripture: 

The highway of the upright is to depart from evil; he that 
keepeth his way preserveth his soul. 

It is indeed most gratifying that at this hour we can 
recount the virtues of our dead with naught to extenu- 
ate, naught to conceal; that as a precious privilege we 
can name him as our friend, and in honoring him do 
honor to ourselves. When cut down he was in the full 
tide of honor and usefulness. " His death was untimely 
and his brethren mourn." 



:i8] 



Address of Mr. Pickett, of Iowa 
Mr. Speaker: James A. Garfield once said: 

There is no place on earth -where a man will more certainly 
or more speedily reach his true level than in the House of Rep- 
resentatives. 

George Herbert Utter illustrates the force of this ob- 
servation. Elected to the Sixty-second Congress, he was 
permitted to serve only through two sessions — the extra 
session in 1911 and the regular session commencing 
December, 1911. Yet in this brief period he established 
himself in the esteem of his associates and left his 
impress on the legislation of this body. He laid the 
foundation for a career of usefulness and distinction. 
Genial and courteous in his manner, attentive to his 
duties, industrious in his work, bringing to his assistance a 
rare natural ability, supplemented by years of training 
and experience in the public service, he was admirably 
equipped to take a distinguished place in this high forum 
of national legislation. 

There is an old Roman legend — 

Let what each man thinks of the Republic be written on his 
brow. 

There were written on the brow and displayed in the 
words and acts of George Herbert Utter a high concep- 
tion of our Republic, an abiding faith in the fundamental 
principles on which our institutions rest, and a prophetic 
vision of its grander possibilities yet to come. While 
not omitting the details necessary to a legislator, he 
seemed to have a broad and comprehensive grasp of 



[19] 



Memorial Addresses: Representative Utter 



public questions. Emerson has said something about 
noting what " the hours are saying to the centuries." 
Ours is a great Nation; 48 separate sovereign States; 
90,000,000 people; vast territory. Frequently the human 
mind is so absorbed with the localized aspect of questions 
that it fails to reach out and encompass, so to speak, the 
national viewpoint. It requires breadth of vision to 
grasp those great problems which involve the life and 
the future of our Republic. He had this faculty in a 
rare degree. 

He had another character trait— intellectual courage. 
He did not fear to act on his judgment. He stood square 
shouldered to his duty as a public servant. He did not 
propound the interrogatory, "Is this measure policy?" 
He always appeared to be self-questioned by " Is this 
right?" 

Small of stature, there was yet in his bearing the 
signet of command — command of himself, and therefore 
command of others, which, united, forms leadership. 
Amid the storms and passions which frequently beset 
the pathway of public men he stood erect, unshaken as 
Atlas- 
While storms and tempests thunder on its brow, 
And oceans break their billows at its feet. 

He was a firm believer in constitutional government. 
His love of constituted authority, reverence for the wis- 
dom of our fathers, and deep convictions in funda- 
mentals of our Government, together with an exalted 
patriotism and a lofty ambition for the destiny of our 
Nation, recalled to my mind the hope expressed by Lord 
Coke— 

Of living always under the protection of the law and in the 
gladsome light of jurisprudence. 



[20] 



Address of Mr. Pickett, of Iowa 



Great memories are in themselves great leaders. The 
memory of those who have wrought for the Nation's good 
is in itself an education for those who follow. The 
memory of George Herbert Utter may well be preserved 
to the youth of our land, that they may emulate his 
example, that it may stimulate them to do their duty 
toward preserving the institutions he loved so well and 
to which his life was so nobly devoted. 



[21] 



Address of Mr. Murray, of Massachusetts 

Mr. Speaker: These are memorial exercises for one 
whom I never knew till I met him here as a Representa- 
tive from Rhode Island, but whom I came to know with 
such respect and admiration that I felt a personal loss 
when he died. Mr. Utter was a positive man, with real 
ideas about men and things, with courage and capacity 
to express those ideas. There was force in his manner 
and method of expression, but it was a charming kind of 
force that directed itself against policies and principles 
rather than against persons. 

I do not remember any time when we were in active 
disagreement on any matter in debate, but I am sure that 
we could have differed frequently in that way without 
any present memory of bitterness that might have been 
caused by his remarks. The memory would not be here, 
because the bitterness never was there when Mr. Utter 
spoke. 

He spoke sometimes, but he wrote constantly, for he 
was the editor of a newspaper. I have reflected lately on 
the influence he must have exerted during his lifetime as 
an editor; not the kind of influence that might cause men 
to vote in a given way, at a given time, but the kind of 
influence, unknown to him and not realized by his reader, 
that shapes the mind and helps to form the thought that 
may be the cause of action long after the reading may 
have been forgotten. 

I am sure that Mr. Utter wrote editorials and articles 
of real value, because he said things of that sort. I re- 
member well, for instance, a talk that he gave me one 
day when he stopped here at my seat on his way to the 
reference library in the rear of this section. It was a 

[22] 



Address of Mr. Murray, of Massachusetts 

simple talk about present-day conditions of American 
life, in which Mr. UrrER developed to me his idea that 
most of the disturbance we noticed last spring was social 
in its nature rather than political. He showed me clearly 
that a large part of the price of present-day success is the 
loss of friendships and associations we truly enjoyed in 
earlier and humbler days. He proved from his experi- 
ence and from mine that many men who used to be 
friends are not now friendly, and that the change in rela- 
tions seemed to be because we had been singled out from 
our fellows for something of distinction. 

I wish that I could set forth in this memorial the de- 
tails of that talk, but I can not do so any more than I can 
ever erase from my mind and leave out of my life the 
effect of it. I am sure that Mr. Utter wrote frequently in 
the columns of his newspaper just as he talked that day 
to me. I am also sure that those writings left a lasting 
impression on the minds of his readers, just as that talk 
left a lasting impression on me. 

I remember well a newspaper editorial that I read 
many months ago written under the caption, " Creditors 
of humanity." It told something of the life story of a 
Massachusetts man who was secretary of the Interstate 
Commerce Commission and had just died. It made the 
point that humanity keeps books with all who are given 
opportunity to serve. On one side of the ledger there is 
written down everything that comes to a man in the way 
of public position and office that presents opportunity; 
on the opposite side is a detailed statement of the things 
given back to humanity in return for these opportunities. 

I know little, if anything, of the details of service ren- 
dered by Mr. Utter before he came to Congress. I be- 
lieve on what I know of him as a Representative here, 
however, that he was indeed of the few who are " credi- 
tors of humanity." 

[23] 



Address of Mr. Reilly, of Connecticut 

Mr. Speaker: As editor of the Westerly Sun, as gov- 
ernor of Rhode Island, and Representative in Congress 
George Herbert Utter was a success. Under his direct 
management his newspaper had for a number of years 
been a power for good in Rhode Island, and its field of 
usefulness and influence was constantly growing. It is a 
clean newspaper in the fullest sense of that phrase, be- 
cause its editorial direction and business management 
were clean, because Editor and Business Manager Utter 
was a clean man. His newspaper reflected the high 
moral standard that he had set for his life work, and its 
tone was never lowered. As governor of the State of 
Rhode Island he conducted the affairs of that Common- 
wealth along the same lines as he did his private busi- 
ness. He inaugurated reforms in State affairs that had 
long been needed, but which required a high degree of 
moral courage, in view of certain powerful influences, 
to put into effect. That the measures were of much bene- 
fit to the State and the people thereof is evidenced by the 
fact that they are still effective, and there has been no 
desire, at least no ability, to change them. While he was 
a stanch Republican, he was not the sort of partisan who 
stood for everything his party did. He went with his 
party so long as he believed it to be right, at least in a 
moral sense, and when it ceased to be that he did not 
follow it. 

In every position, either of private or public character, 
Gov. Utter gave to the duties of the position the best 
advice that was in him, and invariably it was of a high 
order. 



[24] 



Address of Mr. Reilly, of Connecticut 

He was well fitted for congressional life. His news- 
paper training and his service for his State gave him a 
firm grasp on national affairs, and he was certain to be- 
come one of the most influential Members of his party in 
this body. 

He was of a retiring nature, but that did not mean that 
he shirked responsibility or duty. He was always ready 
to stand in the front rank for what he considered right. 
He was a ready speaker as well as writer, and not only 
in political campaigns, but on the lecture platform, was 
he in much demand. He was a religious man and truly 
devoted to his faith. He had the fullest courage of his 
conviction, but was in no sense bigoted or narrow. He 
accorded to everyone the right to worship as he pleased, 
but had no patience with those who did not believe in 
any worship. 

His home life was ideal, and there his loss is felt the 
keenest. Though of a serious turn of mind as distinct 
from the frivolous, yet he was no grouch. He felt that 
the man who scattered flowers in the pathway of the 
poor and unfortunate and let the sunshine of human hap- 
piness into the dark places of life was following in the 
footsteps of the Master. And so he lived and died, be- 
loved of all who knew him and mourned the most by 
those who knew him best. 



[25] 



Address of Mr. La Follette, of Washington 

Mr. Speaker: My acquaintance with the late George 
H. Utter was necessarily very brief, we both being at the 
time we first met new Members serving our first term, he 
representing a constituency of a State bordering on the 
Atlantic, I from a State touching the Pacific. 

We were fellow members of the Committee on Coinage, 
Weights, and Measures, and it was in attendance on com- 
mittee meetings that my attention was first directed to 
him particularly. His desire for accurate information, 
his insistence on a plain understanding of all measures 
discussed in that committee, caused me to give more than 
ordinary thought to and created a desire for knowledge 
of the man, and, upon looking up his biography, I was not 
surprised to learn that he had been a member and speaker 
of the House of Representatives of the State of Rhode 
Island, member of its State senate, secretary of state, 
lieutenant governor, and governor, respectively. 

In noting his achievements and successful career, I 
was reminded of a little speech made by President Lin- 
coln to a regiment of soldiers he was reviewing in front 
of the White House during the Civil War. President Lin- 
coln said: 

I happen temporarily to occupy this big White House. I am a 
living witness that any one of your children may look to come 
here as my father's child has. It is in order that each one of you 
may have, through this free government which we have enjoyed, 
an open field and a fair chance that the struggle should be main- 
tained that we may not lose our birthright. 

As President Lincoln was a living witness to the oppor- 
tunities opened up to the children of the most humble 

[26] 



Address of Mr. La Follette, of Washington 

householder, so was Congressman Utter a living example 
of the possibilities that are open to the'laborer, the arti- 
san, and the tradesman of our great country, if they only 
have the determination, the stamina, and the ability to 
take advantage of the golden opportunities ever opening 
at their feet. 

Congressman Utter was a printer by trade, and a 
printer and publisher by occupation. He served his 
county and State in many capacities, each time establish- 
ing his worth. He was successively elevated in position 
and in opportunity to serve in greater things, and we can 
but mourn his sudden demise while yet in the perfection 
of his manhood and in the heyday of his success. 

I feel that his life and achievements should be an in- 
spiration to the youth of his own State and of our common 
country. 

A kindly, courteous gentleman. Long shall we cherish 
his memory 7 . 



[27] 



Address of Mr. Crago, of Pennsylvania 

Mr. Speaker : It was my privilege to have been closely 
associated with George Herbert Utter, late a Repre- 
sentative from the State of Rhode Island, in much of his 
congressional labors. We were members of the same 
committee and at times were brought into close contact 
by reason of work on subcommittees. His very unex- 
pected death was to me a great personal loss, and to this 
service, in honor of his memory, I bring words of sorrow, 
feeble though they may be, yet too deep and real to 
measure by any standard other than of friendship for 
the man and a deep appreciation of the many virtues 
his life exemplified. 

I shall leave to others the recital of the events of his 
life prior to the convening of the special session of the 
Sixty-second Congress, as my personal acquaintance 
with him began at that time. 

A brief reading of his biography discloses the fact that 
his former work and training in public life had well fitted 
him for his duties as a Member of this body, and we see 
the result of that training reflected in his work. 

In his committees and on the floor of this House he 
took an active part and interest. He thought for himself, 
and his judgment on public questions was formed only 
after mature deliberation and was always founded on a 
knowledge of the facts and reasoned out by a mind 
trained to measure men and apply principles. 

As a Republican Gov. Utter was loyal to his party and 
the theory of government for which it stands, yet higher 
than the good of party he ever placed the common wel- 



[28] 



Address of Mr. Crago, of Pennsylvania 

fare of the Nation, and only those measures which ap- 
pealed to him as right and just received his support. 

His service in this legislative body was brief, yet he 
impressed his individuality on all with whom he came in 
contact, and had it been given him to serve even for a 
few years his ability, his loyalty to duty, his zeal for the 
public good would undoubtedly have commanded general 
recognition, and his real worth would have given him a 
prominent place in the councils of this body. 

Born in the year 1854, he was but a child when, in 
1861, the War between the States began, and so he could 
not have a part in that great struggle which called to the 
field the young manhood of this Nation. When in 1898 
the call to arms was again sounded he had reached that 
age in life when, until the Government was in greater 
need of men, he could not follow the flag to the front 
and participate in that brief but brilliant feat of arms. 
And so his fame is not linked to any martial epoch of 
our history, but is the product of an era of peace, yet his 
love and veneration for the men who bore arms in de- 
fense of our country were intense and sincere. 

His fame rests not on titles, but his titles came to him 
by reason of the true greatness of the man. 

In the closing days of a great political campaign, a 
campaign in which sane principles of self-government, 
by the people, were being assailed as never before, when 
all about him were the sounds of conflict, a conflict in 
which, from a sense of duty, he had enlisted with heart 
and soul on the side of law and order as he saw it, he 
must needs answer the higher call. His body, weakened 
by disease, refused longer to hold the life which struggled 
so hard to gain the victory. 

This life is grand and good and noble, yet it is a battle, 
a struggle from the cradle to the grave. 



[29] 



Memorial Addresses : Representative Utter 

The physical man, in order that he may feel and know 
the pleasurable sensations, must be subject to pain and 
decay; the soul of man, in order that it may soar to 
heights divine, has within it the possibilities of sinking 
into depths of low desire. 

To war against pain and death, to struggle against 
that which would drag one to a lower level, physical, 
mental, and moral, is the challenge nature gives her 
children and impartially awaits our action. 

The life of the departed shows him victor in this con- 
flict. He had his days of sorrow and disappointment, 
but there was always the bright to-morrow — to-morrow 
with all its joys, its possibilities, and its pleasures. May 
we enter our to-morrow with a new realization that we 
are all agents of a great power in a mighty purpose; the 
manner of accomplishing that purpose we may not know, 
but if our work is good, if our lives are filled with good 
deeds, we shall have fulfilled the highest purpose of the 
Creator. 

Gov. Utter has reached the end of all human endeavor, 
and in that spirit land of life eternal has found what 
mortal man can never know — perfect happiness. 

Peace to his soul, reverence for his memory, love for a 
life filled with good deeds — a life once ours, for evermore 
a part of the Infinite. 



[30] 



Address of Mr. McCall, of Massachusetts 

Mr. Speaker: I avail myself of the leave given by the 
House to give expression, inadequate though it may be, 
to my own sense of personal loss and of the loss suffered 
by the country, in the passing of our colleague, George 
Herbert Utter, late a Representative from the State of 
Rhode Island. Although he had never served in the House 
of Representatives before the present Congress, he estab- 
lished in his very brief service a place in its respect which 
was a very enviable one. His long experience in the house 
of representatives of his State and in other offices, among 
them that of governor, had given him a discipline and 
training which helped him to win his way here. That 
experience and his native talent peculiarly fitted him for 
work in a legislative body. 

It was my fortune to be his seat mate, and I soon be- 
came impressed by his industry and devotion and the 
ability which he brought to his work. He was a con- 
scientious man, strong in debate, firm in purpose, and 
always courteous. He was an honor to his splendid little 
Commonwealth, which, within its narrow boundaries, has 
presented to the country the spectacle of a large, a pros- 
perous, and an intelligent population. He showed a 
quality which in a long service would have established 
him among the leaders of the House. The vacancy in the 
public service caused by his loss will not be an easy one 
to fill, and keen and lasting will be the sense of sorrow in 
the hearts of his friends at the departure of a genial com- 
panion, an upright and public-spirited man, and a culti- 
vated gentleman. 



11323°— 14 3 [31] 



Address of Mr. Gillett, of Massachusetts 

Mr. Speaker : My acquaintance with Mr. Utter had been 
longer than with any other Member of this House, for we 
were students together at Amherst College, and I have 
ever since watched with interest and admiration his bril- 
liant career, of which his college life gave promise. The 
clever and attractive boy developed into the powerful and 
popular man. As a member of the Rhode Island Legisla- 
ture, the speaker of the house, and governor of the State, 
he proved himself a man of ability, tact, and broad states- 
manship, and when he entered this House he had the 
qualities and the experience to make him at once in- 
fluential and useful. Although his service here had been 
short, he had already made for himself a reputation 
which foreshadowed a prominent position. He was atten- 
tive and industrious — eager to familiarize himself with 
the peculiar rules and atmosphere of this body and 
winning by his sound judgment and sensible views the 
confidence of his colleagues, while in the few instances he 
participated actively in the proceedings he showed himself 
a strong, fluent debater. He was master, too, on occasion, 
of a warm and inspiring eloquence, and with his culti- 
vated and charming personality was in every way fitted 
to make his mark in this body and be of valuable service 
both to his district and to the country. In his untimely 
death so early in his service I mourn a warm personal 
friend of whose genuine worth I am sure, because I knew 
him from boyhood, before we had learned to conceal our 
weaknesses, and I mourn, too, a public official whose 
sterling abilities, firm character, and honorable ambition 
insured him distinction and influence. 



[32] 



Address of Mr. Harris, of Massachusetts 

Mr. Speaker: I desire to add something to the eulogies 
of those of his friends who were friends of longer stand- 
ing and more intimate acquaintance with Gov. Utter 
than myself. I had known of him, but had never met 
him until the day the Sixty-second Congress convened 
in extra session. 

It chanced that his seat was in front of mine, and as 
we were both new Members, and both from New England 
States, we readily and easily got acquainted. I used to 
discuss the questions that came before us with him, and 
learned to have great respect not only for his judgment 
but also for his absolute sincerity of mind and upright- 
ness of purpose. He was always kindly and courteous 
in manner, and was never provoked into showing heat 
or passion even in sharp discussion. 

As he was clean and upright of mind, so was he in all 
his ways and habits, and the friendship I formed for him 
was one that was allowed to continue for all too short a 
time. Although he has passed on, and my contact with 
him was short, nevertheless in the brief time that I knew 
him he proved one of those who are not readily for- 
gotten and who in their passing through life leave im- 
pressions that are fragrant as flowers, and the memories 
of whom are like the faded rose leaves in the jar. We 
may leave them or set them aside for a time, but when 
the hours of retrospection descend upon us and we lift 
the lid of the jar that holds our sacred relics, refreshing, 
grateful, and stimulating comes the sweetness of a clean 
and honest friendship, which had in it only the things 
which are born in honor and sustained by virtue. 



[33] 



Memorial Addresses : Representative Utter 

Mr. O'Shaunessy. Mr. Speaker, I ask that unanimous 
consent be given to those who are unavoidably absent to 
extend their remarks and make them a part of the pro- 
ceedings of this day. 

The Speaker pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered. 

There was no objection. 

adjournment 

The Speaker pro tempore. In accordance with the reso- 
lution heretofore adopted and as a further mark of respect 
to the deceased the House will now stand adjourned until 
10 o'clock and 30 minutes a. m. to-morrow. 

Accordingly (at 2 o'clock and 52 minutes p. in.) the 
House adjourned to meet to-morrow, Monday, February 
10, 1913, at 10.30 a. m. 

Monday, February 24, 1913. 
A message from the Senate, by Mr. Crockett, one of its 
clerks, announced that the Senate had passed the follow- 
ing resolutions : 

Resolved, That the Senate expresses its profound sorrow on 
account of the death of the Hon. George Herbert Utter, late a 
Member of the House of Representatives from the State of Rhode 
Island. 

Resolved, That the business of the Senate be now suspended 
in order that fitting tribute may be paid his high character and 
distinguished services. 

Resolved, That the Secretary communicate a copy of these reso- 
lutions to the House of Representatives and to the family of the 
deceased. 



[34] 



Proceedings in the Senate 

Thursday, December 5, 1912. 

A message from the House of Representatives, by J. C. 
South, its Chief Clerk, communicated to the Senate the 
intelligence of the death of Hon. George Herbert Utter, 
late a Representative from the State of Rhode Island, and 
transmitted resolutions of the House thereon. 

Mr. Wetmore. I ask the Chair to lay before the Senate 
the resolutions of the other House on the death of Repre- 
sentative Utter, of Rhode Island. 

The President pro tempore. The Chair lays before the 
Senate resolutions of the House of Representatives, which 
will be read. 

The Secretary read the resolutions, as follows: 

In the House of Representatives, 

December 2, 1912. 
House resolution 714 

Resolved, That the House has heard with profound sorrow of 
the death of Hon. George Herbert Utter, late a Member of the 
House from the State of Rhode Island. 

Resolved, That the Clerk of the House be directed to transmit 
a copy of these resolutions to the Senate and send a copy thereof 
to the family of the deceased. 

Mr. Wetmore. Mr. President, I offer the following reso- 
lutions, and ask for their adoption. 

The President pro tempore. The Senator from Rhode 
Island offers resolutions, which will be read. 



[35] 



Memorial Addresses: Representative Utter 

The resolutions were read, considered by unanimous 
consent, and unanimously agreed to, as follows: 

Senate resolution 401 

Resolved, That the Senate has heard with profound sorrow 
the announcement of the death of Hon. George H. Utter, late a 
Representative from the State of Rhode Island. 

Resolved, That the Secretary communicate a copy of these 
resolutions to the House of Representatives and to the family 
of the deceased. 

Monday, January 20, 1913. 
Mr. Wetmore. I desire to give notice that on Saturday, 
February 22, 1913, I will ask the Senate to consider reso- 
lutions commemorative of the life, character, and public 
services of Hon. George H. Utter, late Member of the 
House of Representatives from the State of Rhode Island. 

Saturday, February 22, 1913. 

The Senate met at 11 o'clock a. m. 

The Chaplain, Rev. Ulysses G. B. Pierce, D. D., offered 
the following prayer: 

Almighty God, our heavenly Father, we thank Thee for 
the Providence which brings us to this day of holy and 
patriotic memory. In the light of the great example of 
him whom Thou wast pleased to make the father of our 
country, we here, with grateful and adoring hearts, con- 
secrate ourselves anew to the service of this Thy people. 
Receive our offering, we pray Thee, and grant that by 
Thy grace this may be that happy Nation whose God is 
the Lord. 

O God, who dost commit unto us the swift and solemn 
charge of life, we thank Thee for the life, the character, 
and the public service of him whom our lips shall this 

[36] 



Proceedings in the Senate 



day name. We can not forget him who labored by our 
side, who shared our counsels, and who brake with us the 
bread of life. We honor ourselves, our Father, in honor- 
ing him who honored Thee. Despite our loneliness, we 
are the richer because such have lived. Though his body 
is buried in peace, his name liveth, and his memory is 
henceforth safely enshrined in our hearts. 

We pray Thee, our heavenly Father, to comfort those 
to whom this sorrow is most bitter and to whom this loss 
is most sore. Grant, we humbly pray Thee, that their 
hearts may evermore be in unbroken communion with his 
emancipated spirit. Quiet their restless and yearning 
hearts, until the day of the fuller life shall break and the 
shadows of our earthly sorrows shall flee away. 

In the name of Him who abolished death and brought 
life and immortality to light, hear Thou our prayer. 
Amen. 

The Secretary proceeded to read the Journal of yester- 
day's proceedings, when, on request of Mr. Smoot and by 
unanimous consent, the further reading was dispensed 
with and the Journal was approved. 

Mr. Wetmore. Mr. President, I ask the Chair to lay 
before the Senate the resolutions of the House of Repre- 
sentatives on the death of Mr. Utter, my late colleague 
in that body. 

The Presiding Officer (Mr. Page in the chair). The 
Chair lays before the Senate resolutions from the House 
of Representatives, which will be read. 

The Secretary read the resolutions of the House, as 
follows : 

In the House of Representatives, 

February 9, 1913. 
Resolved, That, in pursuance of the special order heretofore 
adopted, the House proceed to pay tribute to the memory of the 

[37] 



Memorial Addresses : Representative Utter 

Hon. George Herbert Utter, late a Representative in Congress 
from the State of Rhode Island. 

Resolved, That as a further mark of respect to the memory of 
the deceased, and in recognition of his distinguished career and 
his great service to his country as a Representative in Congress, 
the House, at the conclusion of the memorial proceedings of this 
day, shall stand adjourned. 

Resolved, That the Clerk of the House communicate these reso- 
lutions to the Senate. 

Resolved, That the Clerk of the House be, and he is hereby, in- 
structed to send a copy of these resolutions to the family of the 
deceased. 

Mr. Wetmore. Mr. President, I submit the resolutions 
which I send to the desk, and ask for their adoption. 

The Presiding Officer. The resolutions submitted by 
the Senator from Rhode Island will be read. 

The resolutions (S. Res. 473) were read, considered by 
unanimous consent, and unanimously agreed to, as 
follows : 

Resolved, That the Senate expresses its profound sorrow on ac- 
count of the death of the Hon. George Herbert Utter, late a Mem- 
ber of the House of Representatives from the State of Rhode 
Island. 

Resolved, That the business of the Senate be now suspended in 
order that fitting tribute may be paid his high character and dis- 
tinguished public services. 

Resolved, That the Secretary communicate a copy of these 
resolutions to the House of Representatives and to the family of 
the deceased. 



[38] 



MEMORIAL ADDRESSES 



Address of Mr. Wetmore, of Rhode Island 

Mr. President: At his home in Westerly, R. I., on Sun- 
day afternoon, November 3, 1912, the life of George 
Herbert Utter was suddenly terminated, after a rather 
unsatisfactory condition of health extending over a period 
of several years. 

Mr. Utter was born in Plainfield, N. J., July 24, 1854, the 
son of George Renjamin and Mary Starr (Maxson) Utter. 
He was a direct descendant of the earliest settlers of the 
State of Rhode Island through his mother, who was the 
daughter of John Maxson. 

Mr. Utter received his early education in the private 
schools of Westerly, where he came with his parents in 
1858, after which he spent two years in Alfred Academy, 
Alfred, N. Y. He then returned to Westerly and two 
years more were devoted to the pursuance of his course 
of instruction in the Westerly High School. The latter 
part of Mr. Utter's education was secured at Amherst 
College, Amherst, Mass., from which he was graduated 
with the class of 1877. He was a member of the Delta 
Kappa Epsilon Fraternity of that college. 

Refore entering upon his collegiate career Mr. Utter 
learned the printer's trade, and after graduation became 
associated with his father and uncle, G. R. and J. H. Utter, 
in publishing the Narragansett Weekly. On the death of 
his uncle in 1886 he was taken into the firm, and on the 
death of his father in 1892 he became sole proprietor of 
the paper. Through his efforts the Westerly Daily Sun 
was started, the first issue appearing on August 7, 1893. 

[39] 



Memorial Addresses: Representative Utter 

Mr. Utter was engaged in public life for more than 30 
years, first serving on the school board of the town of 
Westerly, with which he was so long identified. His 
political career was commenced in 1883, and for two years 
he was on the staff of Gov. Augustus O. Bourn. In the 
year 1885 he became representative in the general assem- 
bly, and when the Republican Party again came into 
power in the State in 1888 was chosen speaker of the 
house. From May, 1889, to May, 1891, he was a member 
of the State senate and served on the judiciary committee 
for both years, acting as chairman of that committee 
during the latter year. He was then the choice of the 
people of Rhode Island for secretary of state, in which 
office he served from 1891 to 1894, but was compelled to 
retire because of increased business demands upon him. 
Mr. Utter again served the State in 1904, when he was 
elected lieutenant governor. The following two years, 
1905 and 1906, he was chosen chief executive of Rhode 
Island, and in the fall of 1910 was the successful candi- 
date for Representative in Congress from the second con- 
gressional district, which office he held until his death. 

He received the unanimous nomination of his party 
for a second term in Congress, and would undoubtedly 
have been reelected had his life been spared, his death 
occurring only two days before the election, November 
5, 1912. 

He was always an active church worker and devoted a 
considerable portion of his time to the Young Men's Chris- 
tian Association movement throughout the Eastern States, 
being a member of the Young Men's Christian Association 
executive committee for Massachusetts and Rhode Island. 
He was made a deacon of the Seventh-day Baptist Church 
of Westerly in 1894, and for 20 years acted as superin- 
tendent of the Sabbath school. For 15 years he was treas- 



[40] 



Address of Mr. Wetmore, of Rhode Island 

urcr of the Missionary Society of the Seventh-day Bap- 
tist denomination. 

I desire to read the following tribute to Gov. Utter, 
which appeared the day following his death, in an edi- 
torial published in the Providence Evening Bulletin, a 
Democratic newspaper: 

GEORGE HERBERT UTT5R 

It is only the simple truth to say that no man in the public life 
of his time in Rhode Island occupied the same place in the af- 
fectionate esteem of his fellows as Representative Utter, who 
died at his home in Westerly yesterday afternoon. 

Mr. Utter was a man of exceptional capacity for personal 
friendships. In his contact with other men he had a happy 
faculty of reaching their point of view, understanding their posi- 
tion on debated issues, and sympathizing with their difficulties. 
Nor could anyone be more loyally appreciative of their success. 

Unassuming to an unusual degree, he was nevertheless a ca- 
pable public officer in all the important places he was called upon 
to fill. He served in succession as a member of both branches 
of the general assembly, as speaker of the house, as secretary of 
state, lieutenant governor, and governor, and finally as Repre- 
sentative in Congress. If he had survived, it is probable that the 
doors of the United States Senate would have opened to him. 

Mr. Utter was a growing man in his party. In the campaign 
now closing he had been drafted for service by the Republican 
national committee in many parts of the Union. He participated 
in the primary campaign of last spring as far west as Ohio, can- 
vassed Vermont and Maine previous to the September elections 
in those States, and had since given too liberally of his strength 
to the national campaign. When he should have been recuperat- 
ing he was on the speaker's platform instead, and his activities 
in this respect very likely accelerated the disease that has now 
caused his death. 

A striking proof of the impression he made at Washington in 
the short period that was vouchsafed to him there may be found 
in the Congressional Record of June 17 last. Mr. Richardson, of 
Alabama, the Democratic chairman of the Committee on Pen- 



[41] 



Memorial Addresses: Representative Utter 

sions, paid the following exceptional tribute to him in an address 
before the House: 

" Mr. Speaker, I regret very much indeed that a very distin- 
guished Member of this House, a member of the Pensions Com- 
mittee, and, in my opinion, justly and worthily classed among 
the ablest lawyers on the floor of this House, from the State of 
Rhode Island, Mr. Utter, is not present." 

This is the tribute of an experienced Democratic legislator to a 
Republican serving his first term, and it is rendered the more 
striking by the fact that Mr. Utter was not a member of the bar. 

To many of his fellow citizens in Rhode Island the quality 
that chiefly commended him as a public servant was his coura- 
geous independence of thought and action. Devotedly loyal to the 
principles of his party, he could nevertheless not be persuaded 
into compromises and transactions which his conscience did not 
approve. He had a peculiar hold upon the Republicans of the 
State, because they trusted him to stand clear of unworthy parti- 
san machinations. In his independence lay his largest strength, 
and even the party bosses realized that fact. He could not be 
bossed, and the people knew it. 

Mr. Utter was much more than a politician. He was earnestly 
interested in many good works, both in his home town and else- 
where. He spoke throughout this part of the country in behalf 
of high causes and was gaining a continually wider reputation as 
a master of the art of easy and effective address. 

The State is poorer for his death. It is no exaggeration to say 
that Rhode Island mourns for George Utter, as he was famil- 
iarly and affectionately known, to-day. It saw in him the best 
type of public servant — efficient, modest, and industrious; a man 
of high ideals, blameless private life, instinctive friendliness, and 
stout convictions. 

Though modest, on his unembarrassed brow 
Nature had written " gentleman." 

Mr. President, my acquaintance with Mr. Utter ex- 
tended over a period of many years, and I held him in 
the greatest esteem. 

He had a high standard of political and civic conduct, 
which he exemplified in his life. 



[42] 



Address of Mr. Wetmore, of Rhode Island 



He was an orator of ability, always ready to give this 
gift of his to the Nation and his State, and it may be truly 
said his life was shortened by complying with the many 
demands of this nature made upon him. 

His personality was attractive and his disposition lov- 
able. 

The world is better for his life. 



[43] 



Address of Mr. Gallinger. of New Hampshire 

Mr. President: During the past year death has exacted 
a heavy toll from among the men in public life, included 
in the list being Hon. George H. Utter, of Rhode Island, 
an able and influential Member of the National House 
of Representatives, in honor of whose memory fitting 
words are to be spoken to-day. 

My acquaintance with the late Representative Utter 
was rather limited, but I knew him well enough to enter- 
tain the highest possible regard for him as a faithful, in- 
dustrious, and able public servant. He was a strong 
party man, who could be relied upon to vigorously de- 
fend the principles and policies in which he believed. 
He was especially an earnest and able advocate of the 
Republican doctrine of protection, the beneficent results 
of which he had particularly noted in the industrial cen- 
ters of his own State. His oratorical abilities were of a 
high order and his services were in great demand as a 
political advocate beyond the borders of Rhode Island, 
his voice being heard in many campaigns in other States 
than the one he so well represented in Congress. 

Mr. Utter was a man of strong religious convictions. 
He made many addresses before religious gatherings, 
being always ready to aid in every good cause. His pre- 
dominant characteristic was courage, mental and moral 
as well as physical. He never shirked what he consid- 
ered his duty as a public servant, his action on a measure 
being governed by his convictions rather than by consid- 
erations of policy. Having once taken his stand in a 
matter he did not hesitate to express his views with force 
and vigor, and to labor unceasingly to bring about what 
he believed to be for the public good. 

[44] 



Address of Mr. Gallinger, of New Hampshire 

Starting as a printer, Mr. Utter rose through the va- 
rious stages of the profession to be owner and editor 
of the Westerly Sun. Through the columns of that paper 
he found a means of impressing his high ideals upon 
the people of his home town, as well as upon the State 
at large. His newspaper was one of those which set a 
high moral standard, living up to it without regard to 
temporary financial losses occasioned through the rejec- 
tion of news or advertisements which he considered unfit 
to be placed before the public. In that regard it is to be 
regretted that there are not more editors of that type. 

Mr. Utter was a strong Republican, but free from any 
suspicion of narrow partisanship. As governor of his 
State he was uninfluenced by clamor, and his record in 
that office reflects the high tone of his private, business, 
and public life. He inaugurated many reforms in the 
laws of Rhode Island, which stand to-day as monuments 
to his broad understanding of the people's welfare, and 
which at the time they were enacted required an un- 
usual degree of courage to support in the face of much 
powerful opposition. 

The death of a man like Mr. Utter is a great loss not 
only to the community in which he lived, but to the 
State and Nation as well. It is fortunate for him that his 
life work left a monument more enduring than marble 
or bronze, which in the memory of those who knew him 
will always remain as the best possible proof of his high 
character and distinguished achievements. It can well 
be said of him that he made the most of his opportunities 
and that he did the best he could to advance the material 
and moral interests of those whom he so well represented. 
Measured by the standard of uprightness and integrity, 
Mr. Utter left a priceless legacy to his family, a legacy 
in which his legion of friends in private and public life 
all share. 

[45] 



Memorial Addresses: Representative Utter 

Mr. President, it is undeniably true that — 

'Tis not the whole of life to live, 
Nor all of death to die. 

Of this man it may truthfully be said that he lived his 
life well, and that in his death no clouds dimmed the 
sweetness and beauty of his earthly existence. We may 
well believe that he still lives amid environments free 
from the cares, the toil, and the vicissitudes of this world. 
For him the great mystery of death has been solved, and 
for us he has left the lesson of a life well spent — an ex- 
ample to the youth of the land, and an admonition and 
inspiration to us all. Mr. Utter's life was one of un- 
selfishness, filled with genuine sympathy for all classes 
and conditions of our people. He strikingly illustrated 
in his life the thought of the poet expressed in these 
words : 

If men cared less for wealth and fame, 

And less for battle fields and glory; 
If writ in human hearts a name 

Seemed better than in song or story; 
If men, instead of nursing pride, 

Would learn to hate it and abhor it; 
If more relied 
On love to guide, 

The world would be the better for it. 

If men dealt less in stocks and lands, 

And more in bonds and deeds fraternal; 
If love's work had more willing hands 

To link this world to the supernal; 
If men stored up love's oil and wine 

And on bruised human hearts would pour it; 
If yours and mine 
Would once combine, 

The world would be the better for it. 



[46] 



Address of Mr. Gallinger, of New Hampshire 

If more would act the part of life, 

And fewer spoil it in rehearsal; 
If bigotry would sheath its knife 

'Till good became more universal; 
If custom, gray with ages grown, 

Had fewer blind men to adore it; 
If talent shone 
In truth alone. 

The world would be the better for it. 

If men were wise in little things, 

Affecting less in all their dealings; 
If hearts had fewer rusted strings 

To isolate their kindly feelings; 
If men, when wrong beats down the right, 

Would strike together and restore it; 
If right made might 
In every fight, 

The world would be the better for it. 

Mr. President, this brief tribute to the memory of Mr. 
Utter falls far short of doing adequate justice to the 
subject, but others, who knew him better than I, will tell 
more in detail of his high character, his great work, and 
his splendid public service. 



11323°— 14 4 [47] 



Address of Mr. Lippitt, of Rhode Island 

Mr. President: I esteem it a privilege to have this 
opportunity of speaking about the career of George H. 
Utter, for, as I have studied his methods and achieve- 
ments, I have been more and more impressed with the 
fact that his was an unusual character. I have known 
him for years as he has been known to a majority of the 
other people of Rhode Island, as a man who has occupied 
high office with credit to himself and with credit to the 
State. But of an exact knowledge of the type of man he 
was, of his motives, of the nature of his views upon pub- 
lic and private questions, I confess to have had until 
recently a somewhat vague idea. During the two years 
he was in Washington it was my privilege to come into 
somewhat close contact with Mr. Utter and to obtain 
thereby a clearer knowledge of his individuality. It was 
his habit to frequently come over to the Senate wing of 
the Capitol to discuss with me the many questions that 
come before Congress, and which, for a newcomer not 
yet thoroughly in touch with the accumulation of in- 
formation upon national questions possessed by older 
Members, are difficult to decide. I was impressed in 
these conversations by the mental attitude with which 
Mr. Utter approached such problems. I found that he 
always knew the exact question he wanted to discuss and 
the exact form in which that question was coining be- 
fore Congress. I also discovered that in considering 
these questions what he wanted to arrive at were the 
facts in regard to them and the propriety and wisdom of 
the alternative courses which these facts offered for his 
choice, as they might affect the people particularly in- 
terested and the country at large. 



[48] 



Address of Mr. Lippitt, of Rhode Island 



I never knew him to be thinking about the effect his 
action might have upon his individual fortune. He never 
seemed to be concerned about whether his constituents 
would approve his course, but, rather, to so decide that 
he might have his own commendation. As time went on, 
it began to strike me as somewhat remarkable that a man 
of Mr. Utter's long experience in public life should come 
to me to discuss such public questions in the inquiring 
and modest manner with which he always seemed to 
approach them. It would have been ordinary human 
nature for a man who had behind him the successful 
public career that this man had to have acquired such 
confidence, or, perhaps, I might say such esteem, for his 
own judgment that he would approach these conferences 
rather with a disposition to teach than with the desire to 
learn, and I became interested gradually in the problems 
that such a disposition presented. 

Mr. Utter's experience, I believe, is unique in the State 
of Rhode Island. There certainly has been no case in 
recent years of a man who has arrived at the high politi- 
cal positions to which he was elected by the gradual po- 
litical steps that Mr. Utter did. I am told that almost 
from his first appearance in Westerly, as a graduate from 
Amherst College, he began to take an active, if not im- 
portant, part in the public questions of that community. 
It was in the days when town meetings were good training 
for public life. The questions there considered perhaps 
were not of nation-wide importance, but they were those 
in which the local community took a strong and often 
bitter interest, and partisanship ran high; in fact, it has 
often been claimed that in the discussions and experiences 
of our New England town meeting the American people 
obtained that political training that has made the stability 
of this Republic such a contrast to that of many of our 
competitors in the art of government. 

[49] 



Memorial Addresses: Representative Utter 

By what subtle process it is that in the daily association 
with each other it is gradually discovered that one man 
or another has the ability and the character that we want 
to see in public men is not always plain, but it is tradition 
that those qualities early made themselves apparent in 
Mr. Utter, and once he had been put in the line of pro- 
motion his upward progress was rapid and almost unin- 
terrupted. Appointed as a colonel on the personal staff 
of Gov. Bourn in 1883, when he was but 29 years of age, 
he went on two years later to fill the office of representa- 
tive in the legislature, which culminated at his fourth 
term in his occupying the office of speaker of the house 
of representatives, then, as now, a position of such im- 
portance to the efficiency of that body and the comfort of 
its members that it is seldom acquired without merit. In 
this case the office was filled by Mr. Utter with entire 
credit to himself and satisfaction to his colleagues. His 
talent as presiding officer made that session of the legis- 
lature unusual for the celerity with which the public 
business was dispatched, and the legislature adjourned 
at the appointed time with clean slates and without hurry. 

For the next two years, 1890-91, he occupied the posi- 
tion of senator from Westerly, and as chairman of the 
judiciary committee was the majority leader in that body. 
The six years thus spent in the legislature made him 
generally known to the people, and so generally liked that 
he was nominated and elected secretary of state, which 
position he held for three years until the expiration of 
1894. During the next 10 years, though not occupying 
public office, he was constantly speaking in different parts 
of the State upon political and other questions, and so 
constantly adding to his reputation that in 1904 he was 
elected lieutenant governor, and in the following year was 
promoted to the office of governor, to which he was re- 
elected in 1906. In 1910 he became Representative in 

[50] 



Address of Mr. Lippitt, of Rhode Island 

Congress, succeeding Mr. Adin B. Capron, the condition 
of whose health prevented him from again being a can- 
didate. Many other men have held some of these offices, 
some other men have held several of these offices, but I 
believe there is no other man that has held all of them, 
and it becomes interesting to inquire into the type of man 
to whom this experience was given. I think that by such 
an inquiry you will find that the personal qualities that 
made it possible are as unusual and as admirable as the 
career itself is unique. 

Mr. Utter was an orator. Throughout his career he has 
been a pleasing and popular speaker in every part of 
Rhode Island. As a speaker his methods were those of 
a practical man talking to a practical people. His ad- 
dresses were simple in their language, clear in their 
thought, direct in the way he treated his subjects. He 
was not profuse in oratorical illustrations. He did not 
have the imaginative flights of an Ingersoll or a Bryan, 
with their "plumed knight" and "cross of gold," but he 
was full of ideas, that when he became interested in his 
subject poured forth in a rapid stream of well-chosen 
English and at a speed that could only be attained by a 
man of an active and well-filled mind. It was not easy 
for any but an expert stenographer to follow him. 

" I like to hear you talk," said an old lady in New 
Hampshire to him one day, " for you never have to stop 
to think." 

His manner on the platform was such as would natu- 
rally spring from the kindly nature of the man himself. 
He was vigorous and energetic, but not violent nor rasp- 
ing. He did not excite opposition, but rather inclined 
men's minds to move along in the way in which his own 
mind was going, to receive acceptably the thoughts he 
was trying to put into their minds rather than to seek 



[51] 



Memorial Addresses: Representative Utter 

arguments in opposition. He was naturally inclined to 
affection. It was his disposition to seek for the things 
that he could admire in others and he attracted affection 
hecause he saw things in others to like. This disposition 
colored and stamped the character of his public appear- 
ances, and if he did not always convince his audience, he 
seldom failed to inspire that friendship among them that 
made the firm foundation for his popularity. 

"As Jonathan would have been delighted to have pre- 
sented the name of David to the people of Israel, so do 
I approach the pleasant duty which this opportunity 
affords," was the way in which Adin Capron offered 
Mr. Utter's name in nomination for the position of 
governor in 1904, and two years ago, when the Republi- 
can Party leaders were hesitating over the availability 
of several most eligible candidates to succeed Mr. Capron 
at Washington, the practically unorganized movement of 
his friends from all parts of the State drove his nomina- 
tion through the convention with a rush that would not 
be stayed. 

What, now, were the habits of thought, the mental 
characteristics, of the man of these achievements? For 
after all the true test is the man himself rather than what 
has happened to him. In a rough way men can be 
divided into those whose nature it is to seek something 
to commend and who commend it, and those who seek 
something to condemn and who condemn it. Men have 
achieved high positions and have produced important 
results by each of these methods, but if for Mr. Utter to 
have been a member of the legislature, speaker of the 
house of representatives, leader of the senate, secretary 
of state, lieutenant governor, governor, and Representa- 
tive in Congress, to have won the affection and esteem of 
his fellow citizens and kept it to the day of his death, it 



[52] 



Address of Mr. Lippitt, of Rhode Island 

had been necessary for him to be a critic of individuals, 
to delight in exposing evil things, to be a man who pulled 
down rather than one who built up, he would never have 
occupied any of these offices, for all such methods were 
so utterly foreign to his nature that you will search his 
career and his speeches in vain for any sign of them. 

Active as was his mind, it was active in the discussion 
of ideas, not in the discussion of men, except so far as 
men could be helped. During a large part of the time — 
for nearly 30 years — he was actively engaged in the dudes 
of public offices and of a political career; but the remark- 
able thing to me about this man is that he was no more 
interested and active in the subjects that pertain to a 
career of this kind than he was in the thoughts and 
activities that pertain to an entirely different side of 
human life. For during all this long period often as he 
spoke upon political questions no less often did he speak 
upon moral questions. During his two years as governor, 
week after week, in one part of the State and another, 
and before one class of religious thinkers and another, 
he was carrying the message of the broad and tolerant 
morality in which he so earnestly believed. It is rather 
unfortunate that but few of his public addresses have 
been preserved, and even these are only in fragmentary 
form, but there are enough to show clearly the kind of 
ideas upon which his mind loved to dwell. 

" One of our failings is to find fault. It is human nature 
to overlook the multitude of good things and to see that 
which is evil. Let us have charitable judgment on our 
neighbors," is what he told the people at the Park Street 
Church. 

" True friendship means that we must overlook our 
friends' faults and magnify their virtues " is the way he 



[53] 



Memorial Addresses: Representative Utter 

was talking a few days later at the Pythian celebration, 
and again he says: 

There are three virtues that every man must cultivate toward 
his fellow man — forbearance, confidence, and help. The practice 
of these constitute the square deal. 

Similar ideas, simply but emphatically expressed, is 
the message he was constantly carrying from one end of 
the State to the other. 

If he was a practical politician, who discussed practical 
questions in a practical way, he was no less a man with 
lofty ideals of public and personal service, and if he felt 
and inculcated these ideas toward individuals, you may 
well believe that he was no less desirous of serving the 
State when he was called upon to serve her in a way that 
would redound to her glory and to the increase and 
upholding of her good name. 

" I want to meet the people of this State and talk to 
them and of them, finding good instead of evil to speak of 
in the State and its institutions; I tell you Rhode Island 
is a State to be proud of," he said to a reporter just after 
his second election as governor, and this was no acci- 
dental state of mind. Continually, through all his public 
addresses, you will find ardent and eloquent expressions 
of his love and admiration for Rhode Island. 

"Let no man throw discredit upon this State; let every 
man protect this State, her honor, and all that pertains 
thereto," he said to the jewelers at their banquet in March, 
1906; and on another occasion, speaking of Rhode Island, 
he says : 

Her richest inheritance is her glorious record throughout the 
history of this Nation, and the promise of her future is in the 
character of her sons. 



[54] 



Address of Mr. Lippitt, of Rhode Island 

However often in the active current of a busy com- 
munity we may sometimes forget it or be inclined to 
doubt it, there is such a thing as public spirit. There is 
that form of it which we call patriotism, and if the 
thoughts in this man's mind, if the constant trend of his 
teachings, if his lifelong acts and occupations are reliable 
guides, he was on fire with it; not as a noble sentiment 
to be eloquent about — I never happened to come across 
the word in his speeches — but as something that was con- 
stantly, though unconsciously, pushing him on to praise 
and extol Rhode Island— her people and her institutions. 
I can imagine him hot with indignation when she was 
unjustly or ignorantly assailed — eager and keen to de- 
fend. His very first act as Representative in Congress 
was to speak in her praise, as to praise her had been the 
theme he loved the best through all his gubernatorial 
career. 

Thus his speeches and acts bear testimony to his nat- 
ural disposition to look for the good wherever it can be 
found, for to so do was his idea of service and service 
was the passion of the man, service to the men and 
women with whom he came in contact, service to the 
State which it had been given him to represent, service 
that would make the men and the State think better of 
themselves and would make their neighbors and asso- 
ciates think better of them also. 

"There is no nobler motto, there is no greater wish 
that we each one can take to ourselves to-day than this 
and this only, ' I serve,' " is the conclusion of one of his 
inaugural addresses to the general assembly; and again, 
in one of his Sunday talks — 

" Put into the thought of your children that the highest 
duty of an American is to be of service to some one else. 
It will have a good effect in some place and at some time." 



[55] 



Memorial Addresses: Representative Utter 

" Let no man think he can advance himself by closing 
the door of opportunity to his neighbor," he tells the 
Master Carpenters' Association. 

Still in his thought mere giving is not enough. The 
manner of the giving and the manner of serving must be 
as complete and as perfect as the service itself. There is 
a couplet of Lowell's which I am told was constantly in 
his mind and which he constantly quoted, so constantly 
that to some of those who knew him best its sentiments 
stand to them for the character of the man : 

Not what we give, but what we share, 
For the gift without the giver is bare. 

I am aware that we sometimes associate the use of such 
sentiments as this with something of insincerity or with 
some tendency of character that fails to impress us as 
manly, but no man who followed the career of George H. 
Utter, some of whose characteristics I am trying to bring 
before you, ever associated any such idea with his unpre- 
tending modesty, his unmistakable enthusiasm and force. 
There was nothing mawkish or effeminate about this vig- 
orous and independent political fighter. If the ideals of 
human conduct were constantly in his mind, and they 
were, they were there as something not to be worshiped 
from afar, but as something to be used in the constant 
activities of daily life. They were not to him merely 
something to be talked about in the sacred surroundings 
of a Sunday evening church meeting, and forgotten during 
the week. 

" The way to save the Nation is to keep on doing it day 
after day, and every day," is the energetic plan he urged 
upon his hearers. 

"There is danger in the notion," he said, speaking of 
government, "that it can obtain equal results for all men. 
The only thing which the law can do is to give each man 



[56] 



Address of Mb. Lippitt, of Rhode Island 

an equal opportunity," and he urged his hearers to look 
for and to use all their opportunities, for no one will do 
it for them. 

This, then, is the portrait of the man as I see it revealed 
in his acts, in his thoughts, and in his speeches. That he 
had a remarkable and honorable career I have already 
said; that, combined with that career, there was the con- 
stant evidence of an admirable and unusual type of mind, 
of heart, and of conscience I think no one who may study 
Mr. Utter's record will deny. I will confess that I started 
to prepare this address gladly, but, nevertheless, as 
somewhat of a perfunctory duty. I stand now as a great 
admirer of a career that I believe had its foundation in 
the loftiest ideals of human conduct. I believe that I have 
been studying the acts and thoughts of a man than whom 
no other is entitled to stand higher in the minds and hearts 
of the people of Rhode Island, so that what I began as a 
duty I now bring as a tribute of affection, of appreciation, 
and high esteem. 

The archives of Rhode Island will preserve the list of 
his honors, and to his friends and neighbors his memory 
will long be dear. I think we may safely believe that he 
himself, with his clear and active mind, with his high 
ideals and his spotless record, has gone on to — 

Join the choir invisible 

Of those immortal dead who live again 

In minds made better by their presence; live 

In pulses stirred to generosity, 

In deed of daring rectitude, in scorn 

For miserable aims that end with self. 

In thoughts sublime that pierce the night like stars, 

And with their mild persistence urge man's search 

To vaster issues. 



[57] 



Memorial Addresses: Representative Utter 

Mr. Smith, of Michigan. Mr. President, I offer the reso- 
lution which I send to the desk. 

The Presiding Officer. The resolution will be read. 

The Secretary read the resolution (S. Res. 475), as 
follows : 

Resolved, That as a further mark of respect to the memory of 
Mr. Rayner, Mr. Utter, and Mr. Wedemeyer the Senate do now 
adjourn. 

The resolution was unanimously agreed to; and (at 4 
o'clock and 20 minutes p. m.) the Senate adjourned until 
Monday, February 24, 1913, at 10 o'clock a. m. 



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[58] 



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